Short stories about the lives of the residents of Camden Corners. A village in Upstate New York at the beginning of the 20th Century. You will meet old friends time and again and new friends and neighbors with each story. Share the many tales of love, romance, family and friends as well as a few mysteries thrown in for good measure.
Three Novels Available:
https://www.createspace.com Paperback edition $7.99
amazon.com Paperback edition $7.99
Kindle &; Nook e-book editions $5.99

Saturday, January 14, 2012

The Bloom Sisters~Part 2

Dahlia settled in
her room above the quilt shop, found some pretty fabrics and lace and
proceeded to sew herself some new stylish dresses. Hyacinth was in
the quilt shop rearranging all the quilts and materials. She
couldn't believe her sister was acting like such a fool. The more
she thought about the spectacle Dahlia was making of herself, the
madder she got.

Several hours later
Dahlia came down the stairs wearing one of her new dresses. Hyacinth
couldn't believe how beautiful her sister looked. She felt like an
old frump and was not too happy about that.

Dahlia tried to
explain to her sister that she wanted to look pretty, wanted to have
a life outside of the quilt shop. She was tired of having people
look right through her and if a little make up and pretty clothes
made her a bit more visible, she didn't see anything wrong with that.

Dahlia wasn't
getting anywhere with Hyacinth so she decided to take a walk through
town. Herman Smith was unloading a delivery truck in front of
Nichol's Corner Store and almost dropped a 50 pound sack of flour
when he looked up and saw Dahlia walk by. She greeted him and he
realized it was Dahlia. He couldn't take his eyes off of her. He
always liked the Bloom sisters but never thought of them as
knockouts. Hyacinth was watching her sister from behind the window
and noticed that all the men were tipping their hats and stopping to
say hello to her. Hyacinth vowed she would never forgive Dahlia for
her wretched behavior. The days passed by and the sisters barely
spoke to one another.

Finally, the day
approached when Mr. Harold Hightower would be riding by in Mr.
Hennessy's covered wagon. Dahlia couldn't sleep the night before she
was so excited about seeing him again. She had plans to buy several
yards of the prettiest fabric in his wagon and she had no intention
of using it to make quilts. She had made blueberry muffins that
morning along with roasted coffee. Hyacinth would never approve of
serving coffee but Dahlia didn't care. She knew most men preferred
strong coffee to weak tea.

Harold pulled up in
front of the shop and Dahlia greeted him with a big smile and her new
look. Harold didn't recognize her as the shy twin sister he had met
last week. He felt his heart skip a beat just looking at this
pretty young girl. He told her he was there to see the Bloom
sisters. Dahlia blushed and told him she was Dahlia Bloom. Harold
sat on the porch drinking coffee and eating the best blueberry
muffins he had ever tasted.

Hyacinth stepped
out of the shop, quickly chose some fabric and thread and retreated
back into the shop immediately. Harold explained to Dahlia that he
was not cut out to be a traveling salesman. He would be happy when
Mr. Hennessy returned from his vacation. He wanted to see Camden
Corners and was thinking of buying a shop down the street. Mr.
Hennessy had told him that the owner, Mr. Cromwell was planning to
retire and was selling his store.

Harold asked if
Dahlia would like to have supper with him that evening when his route
was finished. Dahlia was beside herself with joy. She said yes
right away but was concerned about Hyacinth. They had never had a
meal apart.

Harold told her he
understood about twins because he and his brother Howard are twins.

“Maybe, if
Hyacinth would agree” said Harold “the four of us could have
dinner at Marino's Trattoria.”

Dahlia promised to
try to convince Hyacinth to join them.

Hyacinth, who had
been eavesdropping took a look at herself in the mirror. She had to
admit, Dahlia did look very pretty. Not only that, she acted pretty.
Maybe it wasn't such an awful thing to try to look your best.
Besides, she had felt the same way about wanting a family of her own.
She always thought it would be a betrayal of Dahlia but that seemed
awfully foolish now.

Dahlia walked over
to Hyacinth and said “We need to talk”.

Hyacinth wrapped
her arms around Dahlia and told her how sorry she was for the way she
had been behaving. With that she pulled the pins out of her hair and
begged Dahlia to make her look pretty too. The girls worked
diligently sewing new dresses to wear that evening. Dahlia was
excited about her date with Harold and Hyacinth was nervous about
being seen in public as her new self.

The Hightower
brothers called on the twins. Harold and Howard often fell for the
same female and for once they each had one of their own. They
proudly escorted the ladies to the Trattoria. Along the way, the two
sets of twins attracted a lot of attention. Diana Taylor saw the
foursome from the bakery window and was so happy to see both sisters
looking identical again. They had always been pretty but now they
were striking looking especially walking beside two very handsome
gentlemen.

They were married
in a double ceremony three weeks later. The sisters wore white
organza gowns without any sign of quilting. The fellows had dark
gray suits with matching quilt vests. They wore their wives
handiwork with pride.